A Hero's Duty
by red.masenko
Summary: You let him turn me into a monster. You picked the wrong son. It ends here, with us. You weren't enough. Itachi-centric. A look into the Uchiha massacre. As it might have been.


A Hero's Duty

As cruel as it may seem and as wrong as it was, it had to be done, and he was the only one who could do it. He believed that he could make it as painless as possible. One genjutsu was all it would take. He believed that by putting the entire compound to sleep, he could get it over with and leave before an innocent villager stumbled upon his doings, not that that would happen. The Uchiha clan had been ostracized for years, so it was highly unlikely for someone to come around at this time of night. But still, the genjutsu was put in effect to keep the clan silent. It had nothing to do with him. It's not like he was weak or anything. He was given a task, as horrendous as it seemed, and he would carry it out. Killing each clan member one by one.

The genjutsu was cast, it was time. It took a lot of energy from him, but he was skilled, _this_ is what all that relentlesss training was for, after all. For this moment, and to keep him alive after this. He started with the weakest ones, the civilians. The ones that fell into an easier and deeper sleep. They were no problem for him. Just slit their throats while they were lying down. Smashed china, burnt food, overflowing bath tubs were what greeted him upon entrance to each and every home of the civilians. Their weak minds did not allow them time to finish up.

The shinobi of the clan were more resistant. Itachi had found that most seemed like they were in a light sleep, that a single sound could wake them. _That's not a problem_, he thought. He _was_ a ninja, after all. Moving silently, _ghostlike_, from room to room, from house to house, he killed everyone. Everyone that was tainted with the Uchiha blood.

Finally, there were only two people left. The closest to him, yet so far away. He slipped into the house through the open window in his room and walked downstairs towards the meeting room. They were there, just like he expected.

"Where have you been?" Of course, never the one for pleasantries, his father got straight to the point.

"Where is Sasuke?" He knew he would anger his father this way, brushing his question off like it was nothing. Which it was. And he would _be_ nothing within a few minutes. Nothing but a cold bloody corpse. His father stood up abruptly.

"How dare-" When he looked into his son's eyes, he froze. _Mangekyō?_ _No! No no no no no! _Itachi smiled. A cruel smile.

"You wanted me to have power. Now I do."

His father was frozen. He need not worry about him any more. He turned to his mother, his beautiful, loving mother. How he hated her. She chose her husband over her son.

"You _let_ him corrupt me," he breathed to her, such venom in his voice. "You _let_ him turn me into a monster,_"_ he kneeled in front of her, brining the katana to her neck. "And you were going to do the same to _Sasuke_!" He quickly slid the sharp edge across her throat, closing his eyes as the blood splashed all over his face and the body of his mother slumped forward onto him. He stood up quickly, letting the body fall to the floor and the blood pool at his feet.

Itachi turned to his father and walked towards him with long, powerful strides, ignoring the sickening stickiness of the blood on the soles of his shoes. _Dear mother_. He smirked. _Watch me. Only one more left_. He looked into the eyes of his father.

"Why, Itachi?" His father sounded broken, afraid. It made him smile.

"You weren't enough." Itachi smirked at his own words. _Ah, how double edged that was_, he thought. Perhaps his father thought that he was talking about power. _Whatever._ He stood in front of his father. "You know what your mistake was?" His father's eyes widened. "You picked the wrong son. Not that I would have let you lay a finger on Sasuke, at any rate." His father had the nerve to smirk.

"Next time. Next time I'll get it right." Itachi felt his blood run cold. Those words. Sasuke has said them before, so many times. Every time he missed a target when practicing shuriken throwing, or when he messed up a seal when learning a fire jutsu.

"There won't _be_ a next time, bastard. It ends here, with us." His father looked him in the eyes.

"How wrong you are. Can't you sense it?" Itachi felt his eyes widen. Quickly, he thrust the katana through his father's heart and as the man leaned into him, he understood what his father meant. Behind them was Sasuke.

_No! Damn it, this wasn't supposed to happen! Or.._ and so, Itachi spoke those fateful words to his brother, words that sent him spiralling into the path of evil and destruction, the path of isolation and death. Just so Konohagakure could sleep at night. And what did Itachi get from this? He got to run around with psychotic missing ninja who were blue, enjoyed eating clay or tortured people for a god that didn't exist. Itachi wasn't sure if this troubled him more or the fact that they all liked to wear nail polish. But nevertheless, Itachi carried out his mission, for it was his duty. He let the village have the few years of peace it deserved. Until Sasuke grew up, that is.

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